Is it crazy to chase your music dreams?

I remember announcing to all my friends one day that I was moving to Nashville, TN to follow my songwriting dream. It never occurred to me that it might sound crazy to all of them. In fact it sounded so crazy that they staged a small intervention laying out very rational points:

I had a good job already that I should be thankful for.

No one in Nashville knew any of my songs or had plans to record them.

All my friends were there in my hometown and cared about me.

I had a new family of my own to support.

etc etc etc.

I pushed on with my plans and moved to Nashville.

I knew my friends meant well and every few weeks I would get a call from someone back home saying something like “you can get your old job back” or “aren’t you tired of struggling for a crazy dream?”

After 5 years I must admit I started having a few doubts of my own. Were they right? Was I crazy??

I pushed on through several failed publishing deals, and worked night and day to support my family. I tried my best to ignore the frequent calls asking if I was ready to come back home.

I pushed on.

After 7 years it happened- I got a song of mine recorded by a major band called Diamond Rio and the song went to #1 on the Billboard Chart!

I remember it very clearly the week “Beautiful Mess” went to number one on radio… I got 33 phone calls and messages saying……

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Clay Mills is an 16-time ASCAP hit songwriter, producer, and performer. His songs have been recorded by such artist as Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, Babyface, Reba McEntire, and Kimberly Locke. He has 2 Grammy nominations for “Beautiful Mess” by Diamond Rio and “Heaven Heartache” by Trisha Yearwood. Follow him at SongTown.com, claymills.com, and Facebook.